Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

ID Foundations, 20: Caught between the Moon and New York City . . . the Privileged Planet thesis

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Yesterday, News put up a post on the mysterious origins of the moon, invoking a classic song on being caught between the Moon and New York City. (Niwrad added a post here on the multiverse that is also worth seeing. Kindly bear in mind this earlier ID Foundations post on fine tuning.)

Mahuna aptly comments:

“As the number of steps increases, the likelihood of a particular sequence decreases.”

OK, so Earth is not merely “very improbable”. It’s very VERY very improbable.

I don’t see this as a problem for Earth, which I think we can prove actually exists. I do see it causing a problem for all those “Earth 2″ exo-planets, of which we can subtract 99% (or something) based on the HIGHLY improbable repetition of the Earth-Moon formation.

You MUST have a Moon to produce tides. And it MUST be a large Moon to act as a final shield against space debris that got past the Gas Giants.

Hey, TGIF, so let’s cue the movie, Privileged Planet:

[youtube ClarWNaCEVM]

And while we are at it, here is Gonzalez — one of the PP principals —  in action on why is the universe fine-tuned for life, with links onward to design and cosmological arguments that point to God:

[youtube M39BKwtUAyA]

So, now, is it reasonable to infer from the privileged planet thesis and/or the broader cosmological fine-tuning case, that our observed universe and/or home planet can be best explained on design? Why or why not, and how does that interact with serious candidate, live option worldview alternatives? END

PS: Personal update, progress is good (as he came out of surgery and came around, the young man was answering questions in his favourite language — Spanish . . . I hereby unscientifically predict a Hispanic daughter in law!), now out of ICU, no evidence of nerve damage, cf. here.

Comments
Eugen: Good movie, good lecture -- three hours of worthwhile viewing. Almost as good as the discovery that Caltech et al are putting up the Feynman Lectures online in toto, here on. (Hey, I have been trying to find a copy of Savelyev's General Physics, vol II . . . I never got that volume way back. to round out my collection including Yavorsky-Pinsky. I find the Russian perspective a useful balance in studying/teaching Physics etc. BTW Mir went bust 2009. Granting there are defects, I think Chris Schiller's Motion Mountain is unto something.) KF PS: Two short walks today.kairosfocus
December 6, 2013
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I enjoyed the Privileged Planet movie, tomorrow the lecture. Good news about your son's progress and the language choice. :)Eugen
December 6, 2013
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Cited for an excellent point.kairosfocus
December 6, 2013
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Wow. I got cited. And me a Mere Searcher After Truth. Vince O'Mahonymahuna
December 6, 2013
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Box, Thanks. KFkairosfocus
December 6, 2013
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Hello KF, A couple of years ago the same surgical procedure was performed on my niece. All went well and it led to a huge improvement. My best wishes to your son.Box
December 6, 2013
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Popcorn night! Between the Moon and New York City we find . . . a (note indefinite article) privileged planet.kairosfocus
December 6, 2013
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